Grooved-plate heat interchanger



March 20. 192,8.

1,662,870 C. w.` STANCLIFFE GRoovED PLATE HEAT INTERCHANGER -Sheet 2 y ffm/nim? l fanZ/zffa @Myst l Filed 0612. .9. 1924 Patented Mar. 20, 1.928. i i I. l

UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE.

CECIL W. STANCLIFFE, OF STAMFOR-l), CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO STANCLIFFE EN- GINEERING CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,VA CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GRooVED-PLATE HEAT INTERCHANGER.

application sied oetober 9, 1924. serial No. 742,554.

The present invention relates to heat interon both sides, as shown in Fig. 3, with interchanger units of the general type disclosed 4spersed ungrooved plates. 55 in prior patent applications made by me, Like reference characters designate the distinguished by the fact that passageways sar-'ne parts Wherever they occur in all the 51 for fluids of different temperatures are figures.

formed in blocks of solid metal or other suit- In the following description I Will generable heat conducting material,- there being ally refer tothe subject of this invention as 00 a solid -mass of such material around and a heater, using this term in the interest of between the fluid-conducting passages. It brevity and without intending thereby lto is the object of the present invention to proimply any limitations in the uses to vwhich vide a unit of thistype which is made of the articles embodying the invention may be plates assembled together in a solid block, put or in the scope of the protection which I 65 and in which the passageways for the fiuids claim. Such so-called heater is designed and are provided by grooves suitably formed in intended for effecting transfer of heat from the plates in one or both sides thereof. Such one iuid to another, whether thefluids ar'e grooves may be made by machining plates b otli liquids, gases or vapors, or one is a with the use of milling cutters of proper l'liquid `and the other a gas or vapor and 70 form and arrangement, or they may be made 'whether the purpose is to heatv one' fluid'by by casting or molding. or in any other way thermal contact with a hotter fluidor to cool which is now or may hereafter be found one of the fluids by thermal contact with a suitable. Units made in this manner may cooler one. I be produced at low, costl for material and lThis heater is made up ofa pile or sta'clrl labor, both in constructing the individual of superposed plates a, b arranged. in replates and in' assembling them into the conipeated alternation.v In one face of each of plete unit. the plates a are parallel grooves c, and in In the specification, and in the drawings one face of each of the platesb are parallel provided to illustrate the same, Ihave degrooves d. These plates and grooves are scribed and illustrated the preferred form of essentially like one another but inasmuch. my invention. as the adjacent plates are so placed that the ao In the drawings: grooves in each run crosswise of those in the Figure l isa perspective view of a collecnext adjacent plates, I have designated those tion or stack of grooved plates forming the plates in which all of the grooves run in one Vmore of a unit containing the preferred form direction by the letter a, and the plates in of the invention; which the grooves run'in a diferent direction 35 Fig. 2 is an inverted perspective view vof by the letter. b. These plates are laid one of the plates which is combined with' one upon another with Ithe ungrooved or other plates to produce the stack shown in plain side of each plate covering the. open Fig. ll; sides of the grooves in the adjacent plate, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of `such-a plate and thus in the assembled unit the grooves l 4o 'having grooves in opposite faces. formed enclose passageways of which all but Fig. 4 is a pers ective view of a, complete one side are formed by the material o f the unit consisting o the above mentioned colplate in which they are out,v and the rmainlection of plates and external fittings, said .ing side is formed bythe ungrooved surface fittings being partly broken away and ceryof the adjacentplate.v An ungrooved end 45 tain of the plates also being broken away to plate is applied overthe grooves in the disclose a connecting bolt; endmost plate of the'v unit, this being the bot? Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing tom lplate in the view of the unitshown in 100 a p late with curved grooves; Fig. 1.v Said end lplate may be of any dei 6 is a perspective view illustrating a sired thickness. similar plate e of l 50 possi le arrangement Vof grooved plates ar greater or less thickness mayuf-desired be 4ranged face to face;y Lplaced at the top .or opposite end of the Fi 7 is a perspective view illustrating a heater to reinforce the grooved plate a Aat 105' 'f possi le mode of building up plates grooved this end.

The assembled plates ma be secured together in a substantiallyfsolid block by various Ways or means, preferably by welding them all together at the corners of the unit as at f, and welding the seams as at g and h, (F1 1). The seams thus welded are the joints between contiguous edges of the plates which are not interrupted by grooves. Calling the grooved fac'e of any late its front face, and the ungrooved face its back, lthese uninterrupted edges are found at all of the boundaries of the back face andat those edges of the front face which are parallel with the grooves. In Fig. 2 such edges are designated fh and t respectively. An ed e of each plate corresponding to h comes a jacent to an ed e corresponding to 1I of the t(late, and it is the seams between these adjacent edges which are closed by welding. Of course-the entire surface of the contact between contiguous plates may be united by welding, soldering or otherwise,

or the may be packed by` interposed gaskets,

etc.; ut closing of the seams hereinabove vs ecified is suflicient to prevent leakage 'of t e fluid from the passageways of one plate to those of the adjacent plate.

In connection with welding the corners and edges, the block or stack may be braced and reinforced to give strength against bursting or separation of the plates,.by bolts j, (Fig.

4), passing through the unit between the passageways or b rigid end plates or frames ot' other specific orms than the plates e and e mounted against the ends of the unit and secured together.

It is obvious that the grooves may be made of any dimensions and of any desired transverse outline, dependino on the shape of the tool used for cutting them and upon their spacing. Moreover, whilethey are preferably straight Vfrom endto end, they are not necessarily so, but' may be made -with a serpentine or undulatory course such as grooves c shown in Fig'. 5, or may be otherwise curved. Whatever may be the precise direction which these grooves take, all of the grooves c, c', etc. .in the plates a run. in substantially the same general direction, and

form one set of passageways, while-all "the grooves d in the plates b run in substantially the same direction transverse tothe grooves a and -form another set of passageways.

- The stack -or block of lates thus made forms what may be calle the core of the complete unit;. and such unit iscompleted by the combination of external fluid connectlons or fittings with the core., Figure 4 shows one form of such external fitting similar to the corresponding part 'shown in my prior Patent No. 1,571,068, dated January 26, 1926, consisting of recessed plates k, k, appliedto the block over those faces 'thereof through which the grooves or passageways open, and secured to the end plates e, e by bolts l, or equivalent fastening means. Themeans m for connection of pipes to lead fluid.

to or from the grooves or passages.` It is to be understood that the opposite faces' of l the block are ,provided with similar fittings to those shown on the visible faces in Figure4.

Among the construction are admirably adapted is that of steam condensers in which there is no substantial pressure. It may be applied to all other heating or cooling urposes, however.

All of the advantages ue to the presence of solid material having high heat conductivity between passages containing fluids ofv different temperatures, are present in this uses to which `units of thisv unit.- In addition there are present the strucy tural and manufacturin advantages due to the grooved plates. Suc plates may be procured of convenient thickness and uniform ,n thickness, and may be quickly grooved at low cost by the use of milling cutters `arranged in gangs. In case plates are specially ytprepared for this purpose the grooves may be formed in them during manufacture, as by rolling them in; orlby casting or molding them when a material isused which is susceptible of beinof cast with suflciently smooth surfaces and sharp edges.

also such non-metals` as have sufficient heat conducting capacity.

The plates may /alsobe formed with grooves in op osite lfaces, that is ,with grooves c exten ing in one 'direction parallel to one another in one of the faces andl grooves I may use anymetal suitable for the purpose, or possibly' d inthe opposite face extending parallell l to one another but in a direction transverse to that of the grooves c. e That is the grooves b in the` single plate shown in Figure 3 combine one row or rank of passageways of both sets. Plates of this sort may be combined with similar plates face Vto face so that the lcomplete passageways are partly formed in both of t-wo contiguous plates,as shown in Figure 6, or they maybe built up inalternation with plain plates e2 shown in Figure 7 intermediate each two grooved'pla'tes; all

united together substantlally as above described. p i

Those plates which are grooved in one face only may be placed together face to face in a similar manner in order to make'passageways of depth greater than the grooves and pairs of plates so arranged may be built up to form a complete block in the samemam.

ner, as will be clearly understoodfrom the foregoing explanation.

What I claimv and desire to ters Patent isz'l 1. A heat interchanger unit composed of a stack of plates having open grooves in one face vand so combined together that passa secure by Let- 0e- Waysy are` formed betweenV the assembadv plates, certainpassa'geways runnin in one direction and in alternation withv ot er assageways running Lin a different direction, and connections a pliedl to'said stack for conduction of ilui toand from said passageways.

` 2. A heatinterchanger unit comprising a series of plates assembled together in a block,

' said plates having grooves in\one face .run-

ning in substantially the same direction and being so arranged that thegrooves of-cer tain plates runcrosswise. of those in'other lates land are closed at one side by the ad- `]acent plates, and fluid conducting connections applied to said block.

3. A series of plates assembled into a solid block to form the core of a heat interchan r, the said plates having grooves in one ace running from one edge to theopposite edge and the open sides of such grooves being closed by adjacent plates'.-

4. A series of plates assembled into a solid block to form the core of a heat interchanger, the said plates having grooves inone face running from one edge to the oppo site edge and the o n sides of such grooves being `closed by arijacent plates, the seams at the edges o f the adjacent plates being closed -to prevent leakage from or to the .passaeways formed by said` grooves.

series of plates assembled'into a in one'of its faces and extending all the way 60 l across from edge to edge thereof.

7. A structural element forv a heater unit of the class described comprising a plate havingsubstantially parallel grooves formed in one of its faces and having another set of groovesformed -in its op osite face, the last named grooves being,substantially parallel to one another but transverse to those first named.

8. A heat interchanger consisting of afm)` block formed of grooved plates placed u n- Vone another in a stack in snch manner t at the several plates close-the open sidesiof the y grooves in adjacent plates, and alternate setsl of grooves run in directions transverse to the at their opposite' en s in opposite sides o the block, andexternal fittings applied to saidblock over the faces thereof 1n which said grooves o n, said. fittings lmving 70 internal spaces close on all sides except the side next to the block, and there communicating with the ves which open at the adjacent side of e block. f v

In testimonywhereof have axed' rny 7l.v

signature: v j u l W. STANCLIFFE.

adjacent intermediatev groovesi said grooves` .ope l 

